7 Ways to Use Homemade Greek Spice Blend (Recipe: Stuffed Peppers)

Spice blends can be great timesavers in the kitchen. Ingredient lists for a single dish can shrink by eight-plus items just be replacing it with “____ spice blend.” Aimee demonstrated how the possibilities on creating your own spice blends are endless. Still, you may be thinking, “How often am I really going to use that spice blend?”

If you’re anything like our family, you might not eat the same meal more than a few times a year, so you may be wondering if you’d ever use the store of spice blends in the freezer. The answer is that it is entirely possible, even without eating the same meal on a weekly or even monthly basis. Variety is the spice of life, and it’s not always the spices that need to have variety.

Photo by Shaina | Food for My Family
I decided to choose one of the spice blends that I have in my own freezer and think of some different possibilities for meals and sides that I could utilize them in. I landed on Greek seasoning. When we originally used this it was to make chicken “gyros” (a rather nontraditional sort), but it has many more uses that extend far beyond gyro night.

Oh the Thinks You Can Think Up with Greek Seasoning

Chicken Gyros and Grilled Meats: Use the Greek spice blend to season meat before grilling.Whether you make a souvlaki, a gyro, or opt to just season your steak, this takes the guesswork out of it and gives you a place to start planning sides to match.

Salad Dressing: Add spice blend to your vinegar before drizzling and whisking in the oil. This is a great alternative to creamy, milk-based dressings.

Vegetable Dip: Add a bit of Greek seasoning to sour cream or Greek yogurt along with a squeeze of lemon for an easy dip for carrots, cucumbers, and anything else on the vegetable tray.

Burgers: Greek seasoning, kalamata olives, and feta mixed into the meat makes for a delicious twist on the grilled classic indeed.

Hummus: Spice up a traditional hummus with a bit of Greek spice blend mixed in, and then sprinkle some on top along with olive oil to serve.

Oven-Fried Potatoes: Who doesn’t love a spiced potato wedge? Use your spice blend to add a bit of kick, tossed in with the oil. Baked up until golden brown, these are an instant hit.

Stuffed Peppers: Using the Greek spice blend to season the rice gives simple baked peppers a kick in the pants and sends them into a Mediterranean paradise.

Rinse the rice thoroughly until the water runs clear. Add in appropriate amount of water for the type of rice you are using, stir in the Greek spice blend, and cook until tender on the stove or in a rice cooker.

When the rice is finished, preheat oven to 350º F. Cut around the top of the bell peppers and pull out the seeds. Remove any additional seed and membrane with a spoon or knife. In a food processor, blend together sun-dried tomatoes and garlic until a paste forms.

In a large bowl, mix together the cooked and seasoned rice, sun-dried tomato paste, white beans, half the feta cheese, green onions, and the olive oil. Spoon the rice into the center of the bell peppers and top with remaining cheese.

Stand the bell peppers up in an 8x8" baking dish. Bake for 25 minutes or until the skins start to shrivel and the feta cheese on top is starting to turn a golden brown. Remove from oven, cool slightly, and sprinkle with pine nuts. Serve warm.

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How do you use different spice blends in different ways?

About Shaina

Shaina Olmanson is the home cook and photographer behind Food for My Family, where she shares recipes, tips, opinions and her philosophy on food as she wades through the process of feeding her family, her friends and anyone else who will let her. She strives to teach her four children how to eat well: seasonally, locally, organically, deliciously and balanced.

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Comments

The oven fried potatoes sound great! I don’t have the same problem about not eating the same meal very often. I keep it simple by just rotating about 20-30 different meals. I don’t like to think too much about what we eat, lol. But I do use mexican seasoning a lot. We use it in tacos, fajitas, beans and rice, 7 layer taco dip, and probably a few other that I can’t think of.Becky @ Sowing Little Seeds’s last post: Does it offend you that I homeschool?

I love Greek Spice. I put it in a bottle with good olive oil and keep it on my counter. I add it to veggies, potatoes and mostly use it as a dipping oil, adding fresh feta cheese to it for bread, like Italian dipping oil with Parmesan Cheese…it is SO good~ ~ ~ Thank you Linda

I love how this post tagged onto the spice blend post. Now I won’t be so cautious to put some of them together and store them in the freezer.
Thanks!Emily @ Random Recycling’s last post: DIY Cleaning Recipes ~ Link-up!

I love stuffed peppers! And, what a great idea for all those spices! I’m starving now (possibly because I worked through lunch and am looking at food blogs…). I need to try this recipe when peppers are in season again!Rachel (De Ma Cuisine)’s last post: Ham Chowder

My husband would be happy with chicken all week, so spice blends save the day when I need to make it seem like a “different” meal to him. Nothing a little rub won’t fix!Casey@Good. Food. Stories.’s last post: No Other Lentil Will Do

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I'm Aimée, editor of this blog devoted to family focused food - with a little urban homesteading in the mix. This is an encouraging community that offers comprehensive recipes, simple preserving tutorials, and honest tips for cooking with kids. This is our family food life. Join us!
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